Groupthink, Bay of Pigs, and Watergate Reconsidered

Abstract

Irving Janis's concept of groupthink can be seen in the context of our on-again-off-again love affair with groups. Group decisions have often been seen as offering the benefits of collective wisdom, but may also lead to disastrous consequences. Groupthink then focuses on the negative effects of erroneous group decisions. Two major examples of groupthink are reexamined and compared: the disastrous Bay of Pigs decision by the elite advisory group of President Kennedy, and the advisory groups of President Nixon, which led to the Watergate disaster and at unsuccessful attempts to cover up. In both, it is suggested there was a "runaway norm," escalation and polarization with the norm being to exceed other members of the group in taking more extreme and unrestrained actions against an "enemy." While Janis seems to suggest that groupthink will ultimately lead the group to fail in its ultimate endeavors, we need to consider the frightening possibility that in the case of the Nixon group, the group actions came close to being successful. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.